Sign device



Dec. 29, 1953 H, w FUERST 2,663,959

SIGN DEVICE Filed Aug. 6, 1949 INVENTOR HARRY W. FUERST ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 2 9, 195:;

SIGN DEVICE Barry W. Fuerst, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor of one-half to C. Bland Jamison and one-half to Miller Allen,- Los Angeles, Calif;

' Application August 6, 1949, Serial No. 108,899 2 Claims. (01. 40-34) This invention has to do with sign devices and has as an object the provision of a sign capable of attracting and holding the attention of an observer.

It is also an object to provide a device of this character which includes, in combination with a loud speaker, a sign in which the words are progressively displayed and rendered visible by fluoresence.

Another object is to provide a portable dais incorporating my novel sign device.

More particularly, it is an object to provide a sign device wherein a wall or disk is mounted to rotate partly in one viewing compartment and partly in a separate viewing compartment, and wherein the lighting system and the materials of which the sign is painted fiuoresence in the light in only one compartment, while the letters of the sign remain latent or substantially invisible in the light in the other compartment.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

Without intending to limit the invention, except as may be indicated by the appended claims, I shall now, for the purpose of explaining my invention, describe preferred embodiments, for which purpose I shall refer to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation with a part of the disk broken away for illustrative purposes;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a side view partly in elevation and partly in section, showing another adaptation of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, I show at 5 a box-like casing having front end extensions 5a projecting beyond and framing the front end wall 6.

It is my preference to make the front end wall in such manner as to pass sound from a loud speaker I forming part of a sound reproducing unit 8 within the casing. For this purpose, I show an opening 9 through the wall, although the wall could be made of foraminated material.

A division wall 10 divides the area framed by the extensions 5a into two compartments [5 and I6, and a disk It; is mounted to rotate between the end wall 6 and the inner edge of the division wall so that at all times one-half of the disk is visible in compartment l5, while the other half of the disk is visible in compartment [6.

Generally speaking, I create an unusual attention attracting and holding feature in connection with the rotating disk by using a combination of paints and lightsources wherein ins dicia displayed in paint capable of absorbing light of particular wave lengths fluoresces in light having such wave lengths but is substantially invisible in light of other wave lengths.

For instance, it is my preference to coat the disk l8 with fluorescent paint having a yellow pigment and, upon said coating I paint indicia 20 in a transparent color and mount a black fluorescent light 22 in compartment l5 so that, in that compartment, the disk appears in one color while the indicia appears in another color, while, in the lower compartment H5, in which I may mount a white fluorescent light 23, the disk is illuminated but the indicia 20 does not fluoresce. However, I prefer also to paint a second indicia 24 in a non-fluorescent type of paint, which becomes outstandingly visible in the white fluorescent light in compartment I6, although latent or not clearly visible in the light in upper compartment IS.

The disk I8 is rotated counter-clockwise by a motor M in the casing through the medium of a shaft 25 upon which the disk is secured.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that my sign is capable of attracting and holding attention since it is an animated type of sign and is one which possesses that degree of incongruity to cause an observer to wonder how it works. Moreover, in the preferred form of my device, I use the sound producing unit which adds the feature of sound which emanates through the framed area occupied by the sign.

For instance, I find that my sign is peculiarly useful in enabling a speaker to hold the attention of an audience, and in Fig. 4 I show an adaptation of the invention in the form of a portable dais generally denoted 40. The dais consists of a casing having a sloping top wall 4|, side walls 42, rear wall 43, front wall 44 and a bottom wall (not shown). The side, top and bottom walls have extensions 50 like the extensions 5a previously described to frame the front end Wall 44 in the manner previously described to provide, together with the partition wall lila, a pair of compartments I511, |6a within which a disk 18a is mounted to rotate in the manner hereinbefore described. The sign indicia on the disk and the lights 22a, 23a correspond to the lights 22 and 23 and the disk l8 previously described.

A hood 55 may be provided for a reading light 52, and an adjustable microphone 55 is mounted on the top wall 4| being connected into the sound producing unit 8a through cable 56.

Wires G0 connect the speaker and motor of the device of Figures 1-3, and similar wires (not shown) connect the corresponding elements of the device of Fig. 4 to such sources (not shown).

I claim:

1. In a sign device having a pair of juxtaposed viewing compartments, a wheel mounted to 1'0- tate partly in the first and partly in the second. of said compartments, with its froiit surface visible from the exterior of said compartments, sign indicia disposed circumferentially of the" front surface of said wheel, said indicia being formed of material capablelof fluqrescing in light, of a given wave length, andiman's for exposin said indicia to light of said wave Tenet-hid th s}; one of said compartments.

2. In a sign device having apair ofjuxtaposedviewing compartments, a wheel mounted to ro tate partly in the first and partly in the second of said cornpartments, with its front surface, visible from thef'exterior oi said compartments, means for rotating said wheel; a coating of fluorescent 4 paint on said wheel, sign indicia painted on said coating, said sign indicia being formed of transparent paint of a color differing from the color of said coating, a light source in one of the compartments capable of producing light of a wave length absorbable by said coating of fluorescent paint and alsoof a wave length capable of fiuorescing said sign indicia,

HARRY W. FUERST.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,288,145 Moville Dec. 17, 1918 2,047,440 Sloss July 14, 1936 2,082,612 Bourguin June 1, 1937 2,038,516 Grier July 27, 1937 2,171,016 Williamson Aug. 29, 1939 2,196,424 Musaphia; Apr. 9, 1940 2,258,351; Brown Oct. 1, 1941 

